La Colectiva de Delaware

Supported by a $200,000 grant from the Delaware Community Foundation’s Arsht-Cannon Fund (ACF), a new and growing network of collaborating nonprofit and educational organizations is inspiring hope and driving change for Latinos in Sussex County.

La Colectiva de Delaware (The Delaware Collective) is a network of people and organizations committed to sharing expertise, identifying gaps in services and resources, testing ideas and strategies to design solutions, and achieving outcomes of critical importance to Sussex County’s Latino families.

Since December 2017, with ACF funding and additional support from the Matt Haley Trust and La Esperanza, the 30-plus members of La Colectiva have held monthly day-long sessions to learn from each other about the Latino communities that they serve.

“This new ‘collective will’ and hope for long term success are strengthened by the ongoing engagement of Latino youth and immigrant families in developing – and ultimately, leading the work that will help them to thrive,” ACF Director Christine Cannon said.

With leadership from Social Contract, the consulting framework of the Summer Learning Collaborative, La Colectiva has developed working groups to focus on four areas of concern:

• Increasing access to high-quality out-of-school care.

• Providing support needed to pursue college and/or career opportunities.

• Providing coaching and navigation to access community resources and services to help families meet their basic and advanced needs.

Currently, the working groups are developing pilot programs targeting these concerns. All successful pilot programs will develop proposals to seek funding from a variety of sources.

“For the Arsht-Cannon Fund, this type of funding – targeted on addressing challenges through partner and community learning and collaboration – provides us with the greatest chance of making the differences we have envisioned for many years,” Cannon said. “My hope is that, by late spring 2019, we will have all realized that our most satisfying work and most effective outcomes are the gifts of our collective efforts.”

The ACF is a donor advised fund at the Delaware Community Foundation. Since 2007, the ACF has invested more than $7 million dollars to improve the lives of Delaware’s Latino immigrant families, helping them gain language, parenting, and career skills while assisting their children to achieve personal growth and academic success.

“The Arsht-Cannon Fund is a true partner in the community foundation’s work to improve quality of life in Delaware,” DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay said. “By investing in creating more opportunities for the Latino community, Arsht-Cannon is making life better for all Delawareans.”